Volume 45   Number 7                                                                March 2003

I believe in the right to choose, or perhaps more properly stated, the option to choose. God Almighty made us this way. Otherwise we would be mere creatures programmed to function in a predetermined way. The freedoms that we enjoy in our land allow us to make choices almost beyond number. We are at liberty to choose where we live, whether and where we enroll in college, what courses we study, our field of employment, our marriage companion; the list goes on and on. Even in the daily routine of life, we choose what time to rise each morning, what garments to wear, where to shop, what things to buy, what and where we eat.

We must even chose whether to obey the law or violate the law. Certainly no one is made to rob banks, steal automobiles, or commit other crimes. They choose to do those things, rather than to comply with rules of proper behavior.

We are creatures with the capacity and option, or if you please, the 'right', to make choices. All too often wrong choices have been made. It was a bad choice that Adam and Eve made when they disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit. The whole world has suffered as a result of that decision. Cain made a foolish choice when he killed his brother. Even David, the man after God's own heart, made a sinful choice when he saw Bathsheba bathing and had her brought to him for an adulterous union. Thank God, He has provided forgiveness for them who have made wrong choices but then repent and submit to Him.

I have been impressed by a recent ad on television. A pleasant feminine voice reminds us of the "right to choose" that we enjoy in this land, and that the right to choose was a basic premise in the founding of our country. Most of the ad sounds good, but then comes the comment concerning her freedom to do as she chooses concerning her body. And to some degree at least that is also true, but the subtle underlying message is the implication that women have the "right" to choose to kill their babies.

Perhaps it is because this year is the 30th Anniversary of the Roe Vs. Wade case, and the fact that the abortionists realize the possibility of that decision being overturned by more conservative officials pressured by public sentiment, so the people who seemingly have no conscience about murdering unborn babies are using the media in an attempt to propagandize the public and justify their ungodliness.

Sin has become so common in our society, that most people do not know sin is sin. I look in the telephone directory and I find "Abortion Services" listed. Is there no fear of God in our land? But back to the comment in the television ad about our nation being founded on peoples' right to choose: That sounds nice, doesn't it? But I read in the Declaration of Independence of "certain inalienable rights" of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness". What about that "right" of "Life"? Doesn't a baby have the "right to live? Just because a baby is unwanted, do we have the "right" to kill it?

Let it be clearly understood that it is never right to do wrong! From the days of Cain in the beginning, God has made it plain that He disapproves of murder (Genesis 4). In the days of Noah, God commanded the death penalty for a murderer (Genesis 9:6). When the Law was given at Mt. Sinai, the sixth commandment was, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). If that doesn't seem plain enough, read Proverbs 6:16-17. The Scripture lists things that God hates and among those things is listed "hands that shed innocent blood". Is there anyone more innocent than an unborn baby?

Let us be diligent in our opposition to this awful sin. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." (Proverbs 14:34) May God administer justice in our land.